Right in time for the New Year, Kobe Bryant has come out with new shoes for the 2008-09 NBA Season: Nike Zoom Kobe IV. Following the immense success of the other shoe promoted by Kobe Bryant for the Olympic games, the Hyperdunk, Nike will launch the fourth edition of the Zoom Kobe line in February 2009.

The shoe, also known as "Venom," features a beautiful design, the Los Angeles Lakers colorway (black purple, yellow, grey), a translucent midsole and a black reptile print on the toe box and heel. The inspiration of this clean colorway comes from one of Bryant's favorite comic villains, Venom from Spiderman 3. The tongues of the shoes from this edition have golden words imprinted reading "Carpe Diem" or "seize the day" in Latin. It is expected that they will release other colorways later in 2009.

However, Bryant has received backlash due its low-top design. But there was a method to Bryant's madness. He wanted the lightest basketball shoe possible and he got one that is 11.6 ounces, which is 20% lighter than an average Nike shoe. For a player such as Bryant, who Nike says runs an average of 2.5 miles per game, less weight on his feet means more energy on the court and the ability to move quicker, run faster and perhaps even jump higher.

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